Gym investment reaping benefits for local residents
A Telford resident has told the council about how she used local council owned leisure facilities in Wellington to develop her fitness and turn her life around.
Lorna who joined Telford & Wrekin Council Leisure’s aspiration gym in Wellington back in 2018, began using the swimming pool after she suffered from a stroke five years ago to help regain her strength.
Within just a few months Lorna had mastered her lengths in the pool and began challenging herself with some low impact exercises in the gym. It wasn’t long before Lorna was regularly taking part in group exercise classes and now uses all three facilities at Wellington to stay on top of her health and wellbeing.
A series of investment programmes, started in 2022, is being undertaken by Telford & Wrekin Council across its leisure sites; ensuring they offer an up to date gym experience with technology that members expect to see and use in gyms, offering residents a place where they can prioritise their health and wellbeing.
The investment comes as part of the council’s wider On Your Side commitment to help make the borough cleaner, greener, safer and more enjoyable.
Wellington Civic and Leisure Centre received its gym refurbishment last summer to mark 10 years of the site first opening its doors. The refurbishment included brand new state of the art gym kit including 30 cardio stations complete with treadmills, elliptical cross trainers, stepmills and Watt Bikes plus a new fixed resistance station and the installation of new group cycling bikes to enhance the cycling classes offer at the centre.
Lorna told us: “I joined Telford & Wrekin Council Leisure back in 2018 during a time when I needed to focus on my health. Getting back to being fighting fit was my top priority and I couldn’t have chosen a better environment to combine swimming, gym and group classes all in the same location. For me it’s now not just about getting fit- it’s about doing something I love every day to support my mental health. The refurbishment last year updated all the gym equipment which has improved my enjoyment of using the gym.”
Councillor Kelly Middleton (Labour), Cabinet Member for Leisure, Public Health and Well-Being, Equalities and Partnerships commented: “This inspirational story is an excellent example of how our council owned leisure facilities play a vital role in contributing to people’s physical and mental wellbeing every single day. It’s why it is so important that we continue to invest and make our leisure facilities the best they can be for our residents - with over 15,000 customers walking through the doors at Wellington each week to make use of the onsite gym, swim, fitness and sports facilities– we will continue to ensure that they are great places for our residents. This is more than figures on a spreadsheet this is about making a real difference to people’s lives. This is why we invest.”
Read more about how the council is investing right across its leisure facilities in Telford and Wrekin -www.telfordandwrekinleisure.co.uk/investmentnews
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